Re: Use of ACRONYM

by "Pamela Shorey" <palema(at)galaxyinternet.net>

 Date:  Fri, 15 Mar 2002 19:49:57 -0500
 To:  <aware-techniques(at)hwg.org>
 References:  earthlink onlinehome idyllmtn munat
  todo: View Thread, Original
Hi, Charles,

My sense of the word was the same as yours.

>
> An acronym is an abbreviation made from the first letter or first few
> letters of multiple words *and producing a pronounceable new word.* MADD
> is an acronym, CSS is not.

I checked several online dictionaries (webster, heritage and cambridge) and
got basically the same answer in all three:
"Abbreviation" is the shortened form of a word *or phrase*
"Acronym" is a kind of abbreviation,  a WORD made up from the first letter
or letters of a pharase eg "radar," or  a kind of abbreviation that is
*pronounced* as a word

It occurs to me one ought to use the designations of ABBR and ACRONYM
selectively. In normal writing, it is typical to put the meaning of an
abreviation in parentheses after the first use, but not if it is a very well
known abbreviation used all the time, such as FBI. IF the text designates
the meaning of the abbreviation, it is necessary to code it only to tell the
screen reader not to say "fibi" instead of "eff-bee-eye."

But with acronym, it should perhaps not be coded where it wouldn't be
explained in normal writing AND the screen reader has no trouble pronouncing
it, such as "radar," a word that is so common in English that it has more
meaning to many people than the words it stands for.
It should be used, however, in an instance like Maine CITE, since the
pronounced word would be meaningless in context without the information that
it's an acronym. The sight reader gets that information from the
capitalization.

For any reader, it's not a good idea to put too many uncommon abbreviations
into one text -- the reader gets lost and can't recall what they all stand
for.


Interesting discussion...

Pam Shorey

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